Women’s soccer falls short at home

The Carnegie Mellon women’s soccer team hosted the College of Wooster Fighting Scots at Gesling Stadium last Friday. The match resulted in a 2–1 defeat in overtime giving the Tartans a 2–3 record overall.

Carnegie Mellon came into the match confident. However, Wooster put the Tartans under heavy offensive pressure from the beginning. Wooster defender Angela Evans set up a free kick and rifled a shot past Carnegie Mellon junior goalkeeper Christie Adams. This early goal put Wooster up in the fourth minute of play.

The Tartans struggled to stay in the game mentally, and were unable to gain composure in their attacking third. The team had several scoring opportunities, but did not monopolize on its chances to get past Wooster goalkeeper Abby Brown.
With Carnegie Mellon’s difficulty regrouping from the anticipation of a win and being down by one goal, the team struggled to stay in the game mentally. It was not until the 79th minute that the Tartans scored the equalizer.

Carnegie Mellon first-year midfielder Kate Smith fought for a ball in front of the net and was tackled in the penalty box just before cranking a shot off.

The referee gave the Tartans a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box, which gave junior forward Abby Coffin an opportunity to score her third goal of the season. Coffin slammed the ball through Wooster’s wall, and the ball skidded into the lower far corner of the net at the 78:32 mark.

The score remained 1–1 until the clock ran out and both teams had to continue into sudden-death overtime play. With increased pressure, both teams attempted to stabilize their defenses and enhance their attacks. Carnegie Mellon’s defensive line was caught off guard 30 yards out from the goal and after several missed kicks, Tartan first-year goalkeeper Anya Rosen, who was subbed in at the 29th minute for Adams, was left out of position.

Wooster Kate Kiley chipped the ball over Rosen’s head to score the golden goal in the 94th minute. The match resulted in a 2–1 defeat for the Tartans.

Wooster and Carnegie Mellon both took eight shots. Adams had one save and Rosen stopped two shots for the Tartans.
Junior tri-captain Sarah DeWath believes that Carnegie Mellon can continue on to success by working on individual players’ and the team’s weaknesses and strengths. “We are just getting through the young phases of the season. It has been a rough few weeks being on the road, but it has been a learning experience for a lot of the girls,” DeWath said. “The focus needs to be on ourselves instead of worrying about other teams. We need to eliminate our errors. It is not that other teams are beating us. It is that we are beating ourselves.”

The Carnegie Mellon women’s soccer team will play Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, today at home at 7:30 p.m.